Hedge Trimming Tips

Hedge Trimming and Garden Maintenance

Hedge trimming and garden maintenance are extremely important when it comes to defining your exterior boundaries with your neighbours.

Like all garden maintenance jobs, planning is extremely important, and none more so than the equipment to be used. Not only is it important to ensure your trimmers and shears are in good working order but you must also give some thought to your safety equipment such as gloves, goggles and for high positioned tasks helmets and proper boots.

For smaller hedges, hand shears would normally suffice however for large-scale jobs petrol or electrical trimmers would be seen as the standard option nowadays.

The majority of hedges have to be clipped after planting and then twice a year in spring and late summer. Normally, you would only trim the side shoots of more temperately growing hedges leaving the leading shoots untouched. The most vigorous species might need trimming 2 or 3 times in the growing season. Once the leading shoots have attained the desired height, trim them level to make a flat-topped, wider-growing hedge.

Hedge Trimming Quick Tip!

Whilst trimming the hedge, it’s extremely important to make sure you always have a good vantage point to assess how your “lines” are running as it’s very difficult to determine accurately by eye; it’s only when you have finished that any mistakes become apparent.

The great thing about working in the garden is that it’s a dynamic environment – even if you do make mistakes they will soon be remedied – take for example the rosebush; roses are very hardy and forgiving, so short of cutting them off an inch above the ground, it’s hard to make a mistake. Get a good sharp pair of secateurs for this job. Cut off all the dead branches and the branches that are aiming in the wrong directions. Finally, trim the branches that you want to regenerate the new buds for future growth – keep around three growth buds on the branch in question.

Another great tip for freshening up the layout is to move plants from one part of the garden to the other. If you are moving shrubs, don’t try it with anything too big, as you will have a problem getting up all the roots. But for smaller shrubs such as daphne, rosemary or roses (again), all you need to do is first dig a sizeable hole where you desire to place the shrub. Put some blood and bone down the end. Then cautiously dig up the shrub you want to transplant, taking as much root and as much soil around the root as you can. Then move the shrub – roots, soil and all – into the pit where it’s going to do. Put in as much soil as you need to fill the hole to the top, then water it.

Northern Beaches Garden Care has over ten years experience in Hedge Trimming and Garden Maintenance right across the Northern Beaches and Lower Northshore of Sydney. For more information on Hedge Cutting Neutral Bay, call (02) 8488 8080 or visit Northern Beaches Garden Care.

Northern Beaches Garden Care is a team of landscape gardeners specialising in areas such as garden maintenance, hedge trimming, landscape gardening, lawn mowing and mulching services. Our passion is gardening, and it shows in the attitude and work that we do.